


My Summer Wine

by nieliegen



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Flashbacks with underage, Fluff, Josh is a wine maker sorta, M/M, Masturbation, More to be added as we progress, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, Smut, Then smut, They smoke weed sometimes, Tyler is a labourer, Winery, hence the warning, lots of smut, super slow burn, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nieliegen/pseuds/nieliegen
Summary: Tyler jumps at a sudden cough, nearly sucking the joint right down his throat, he keels over trying to catch his breath as he hears choked laughter and ‘oh my god, are you okay?’ next to him.  He finally catches his breath and stands, back to the wall, letting his head fall back and inhaling a large gulp of oxygen.Tyler stares opened mouth at the random man, he has his hands tucked in his pockets and his brows furrowed as he looks, more like stares, at Tyler.  Tyler is suddenly very aware of the joint between his fingers, he ashes it and looks guiltily into the random man’s eyes.“Umm, it’s for my glaucoma?”Or, the one where Josh inherited a winery and all that comes with it and Tyler was tired of serving people in the restaurant, so he took a good old, farm-boy, vineyard worker position at a local winery.
Relationships: Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph, Tyler Joseph/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 29





	1. The Interview

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I know I still need to finish my Blurryface fic but this has taken up my headspace for the last week and I was too excited not to share it. Doing my best to keep it kinda canon regardless of it being an AU.
> 
> For plot purposes, this storyline starts in 2014 and everyone is their real life ages. Going to be a super slow-burn start and then the smut will come, I promise. Rated E just as a warning, it will get fairly pornographic, sorry not sorry.
> 
> As always, this is fake and a work of fiction for our amusement. I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry Tyler and Josh.
> 
> ||-//

“Tyler Joseph?” A petite redhead pops out of an office, papers in her hands and meets Tyler’s eyes.

“Hi, that’s me—um, I mean, yes.” Tyler blushes as he goes to shake her outstretched hand, and she smiles brightly and leads him into her office.

“I’m Ashley,” she says as she motions to a chair set out in front of a large wooden desk, she takes the white swivel chair behind it and shuffles her papers. Tyler lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and watches her nervously.

“No need to be nervous,” she smiles brightly at him and the words just make him more nervous but he’s thankful when she jumps right in. “So, no prior experience working on a farm or in a vineyard, last job was at a local restaurant—what made you apply for this position?” Her voice is soft and comforting and Tyler finds himself relaxing into the chair.

“Uh, well. Honestly? I’m kind of introverted and the restaurant was nice but it’s just—it’s a lot for me, so I needed to get away from all of it and I just—well, this position offered the most money and I’m trying to save up so I can move out of my parents and really I—” Tyler blushes and cuts himself off from his ramble. “Sorry.” He mutters but her smile never fades.

Ashley laughs and falls back into her chair, looking at him questioningly and Tyler’s pretty certain he’s just bombed his first real interview in over three years.

“I appreciate your honesty, Tyler. I am going to be real with you though, this work is not easy work—it’s long days in the cold, in the sun, in the rain with physical labour. The learning curve isn’t huge so not having experience is not an issue however, we do tend to job-share a lot around the vineyard so you may be asked to do things outside of strict vineyard work.” She watches his face as he absorbs the information and he bites his lip as he considers her words.

“I—I understand completely, and I am ready for this change. I think I would be a great fit and I wouldn’t let you down.” Tyler feels the lame as soon as the words leave his mouth but Ashley just chuckles.

“Great, I think you would be a good fit as well and I think we can skip over the whole ‘we’ll call you’ bit and just let you know that you got the position. You are by far the most honest candidate I’ve interviewed and it’s such a breath of fresh air, excuse the cliché.” Ashley smiles brightly and Tyler feels a weight lifted from his shoulders and excitement bubbling up.

“Really? I mean, wow, um, thank you!” Tyler stands a bit too quickly and nearly trips over the chair; he blushes but Ashley is still looking at him softly. “Um, so when do I start?” He asks as Ashley moves to stand as well.

“Well, I can give you a tour of the place, now? And we can discuss as we walk.” Ashley says as she leads him out of the office, she nods to the younger redhead seated at a desk outside and shows him outside.

The office sits atop of the hill, the first building you need to pass in order to get to the wine shop and vineyard. The road winds around and ends in a circle with the wine shop and an outdoor picnic area in the middle. The vineyard is huge and feels like it expands forever, a forest surrounding the entire property gives privacy to everything.

It’s the beginning of May and the vines are just showing their green colour, just before flowering but everything still seems pretty bare to Tyler—he doesn’t know a lot about vineyards, but it seems to be a normal process given everyone is just calmly working away.

“So, all of the pruning and trellising is done with and we’re seeing the buds swelling so we are looking good. May is a busy month however, we need to stay on top of disbudding and suckering as the branches are growing rapidly—about two to six inches a day.” Ashley pauses to look at Tyler and laughs at the terrified expression on his face. “Sorry! This must sound like a different language, I forgot, but you’ll come to understand it all soon enough. Basically, we need to monitor the vines and ensure the branches don’t get too heavy by removing buds and shoots.” Tyler’s still entirely confused but he holds onto the words for later, he’ll have to do some Googling.

“Mark is our vineyard manager; he works closely with the winemaker during this process to ensure we are selecting the branches that will give us the best quality grapes. Our winemaker is Rich, he’s an older guy but he’s super knowledgeable and friendly and he’s always around to answer questions.” Ashley leads him down to the wine shop, past all the vines and Tyler finds himself completely taken back by the beauty of everything.

“This is the wine shop, we are open seven days a week starting May 1st until September 30th, but you won’t need to know a lot over here; this is where people come to do tastings and purchase our wines. It’s good to know the workers however, as they tend to ask the vineyard guys to do all the heavy lifting.” She chuckles and holds the wine shop door open for him, he steps in and is greeted immediately with a ten-foot bar and shelves filled with beautifully elegant bottles.

“Whoa,” Tyler’s eyes grow wide as he takes in everything and he can’t seem to pick one spot to look at, everything is fighting for his attention and he’s thankful when a person pops out of a side office.

“Rich!” Ashley grins and leads him to the older man, he has greying-white hair and a grandfatherly smile. Tyler immediately likes him. “This is Tyler, he’s out new vineyard worker.” Tyler steps forward to shake the outstretched hand and smiles wildly.

“Nice to meet you, Tyler.” Rich’s handshake is firm and reminds Tyler of his own grandfather.

“You as well, this place is incredible.” Tyler breathes and their hands part, Rich laughs and half bows.

“Well, thank ya but I can’t take all the credit. I mean, I have been here over twenty years but—” he stops himself, a sad smile forming around his mouth and Tyler watches him in confusion. “Bill was the heart of this place, so thank him if anyone. But I better get back to my tests.” He nods to Ashley and Tyler and disappears back into his office.

Tyler contemplates asking who Bill is, but Ashley has a mirrored sad smile and he thinks it might be a discussion for another time. Ashley turns to him, sadness gone and her cheery smile back in place.

“Rich’s office is in here so if you can’t find him in the vineyard, this is the next best place.” Ashley leads him to the bar where, embarrassingly, he realizes two girls are standing watching them with small smiles. Were they always here?

“These are our tasters, Debby and Kim!” And for a second Tyler just stares stupidly at them and then he blurts out,

“Kim?!” And the taller blonde grins and reaches out to catch him in a warm hug.

“Tyler! I was wondering when you were gonna notice.” Her smile is infectious, and Tyler finds himself relived he knows at least one person here.

“You know each other?” Ashley asks curiously.

“She’s married to one of my best friends, I would hope so.” Tyler laughs and Kim lightly punches his shoulder.

“I’ve known Tyler for seven years; you made the right choice in hiring him. Best guy I know, other than, you know, Michael.” Kim laughs and Ashley nods at the new information.

“That’s awesome! And sorry, Debby, this is Tyler; he’s our new vineyard worker.” Tyler turns his attention to the shorter, strawberry blonde girl and reaches out a hand to shake.

“Hi!” Her voice is soft and happy, and Tyler smiles widely—he’s gonna like it here.

“Nice to meet you.” Tyler replies and they break apart.

“Debby is also new, she just started in the wine shop this week.” Ashley breaks the comfortable silence and Tyler nods along to her words.

“Yep,” Debby replies excitedly, “just turned twenty-one on Tuesday!” She shimmies and laughs at her own excitement.

“Sick! Happy birthday!” Tyler grins at her and then they’re leaving the shop.

“That’s basically everyone on this side, except for Jordan who helps with stock and basically anything Kim wants, he’s my brother and he’s only twenty so he does all the not tasting related tasks around here. If we run into him, I will introduce you.” Ashley starts toward the vineyard and Tyler follows dutifully.

“So, you run this place then?” Tyler comments as they enter the fields and Ashley laughs loudly.

“No, no. Think of me as human resources, I just help with hiring and some miscellaneous office duties. My older brother, Josh, he’s in charge of the place. Family-run and all that.” Ashley smiles tightly and Tyler decides not to push it.

“That’s cool, will I, uh, will I meet Josh?” Tyler asks as they wander further into the rows of vines.

“Eventually, he kind of does his own thing and is usually swamped but he makes appearances every so often.” Ashley’s smiling again. “This is Mark,” she gestures to a shorter man with light brown hair, he seems deep into his inspection of a particular vine but nods to acknowledge their presence. “Mark, this is Tyler, our new vineyard worker.”

Mark finally looks up and smiles, a gloved hand reaches out and Tyler takes it without a second thought. “Yo, welcome to the family.” Mark steps back from the vine and pulls his gloves off.

“Thanks,” Tyler laughs and a sort of awkward silence falls over the group. “Um, so are you who I—are you my boss?” Tyler’s not sure how to ask and it comes out just as awkward as it sounded in his head.

Mark just laughs, loud and bright and then nods. “Something like that, I’ll be training you and showing you the ropes and everything but please, don’t think of me as a boss.” He says and Tyler feels more at ease.

“Sick.” Tyler replies and then Ashley is leading him away.

“Yeah, so Mark will show you everything you need to know, and you’ll work closely with him for the first few weeks.” Ashley comments and then pauses once they’re a few rows away from Mark. “That’s pretty much everyone—we have seasonal workers from Mexico that come and go and you’ll meet them as you go. The only other static person is Ben but he only works Friday to Sunday so you’ll meet him soon. You met Abbie at the office, she’s my younger sister and does a bit of the bookkeeping when she’s here which is strictly only after 3pm and weekends since she’s still in school.” Tyler nods as he tries to make a mental note of all the names and what they do.

“I will probably forget everyone’s name.” Tyler replies sheepishly but Ashley just laughs again and man, Tyler hasn’t been around this much genuine laughter in a long time.

“I’m sure everyone will keep reintroducing themselves so no worries there. The last part of our grand tour is the vineyard house—” Ashley leads them toward the back of the vineyard where a quaint, one-story home sits. “It has three bedrooms, a full kitchen and full bathroom with laundry. This is where a lot of the vineyard guys eat lunch, change, shower, what-have-you. It’s always unlocked during the day, but we lock it around 7pm just for security. The rooms are furnished and available if you have a late night or early morning, but we also rent them on a monthly basis to those who are interested.” Ashley opens the door and again, motions for Tyler to enter before her which he does.

The house is pretty impressive for just being for vineyard workers—the kitchen is huge with white cabinets and black countertops and all the appliances you could need, including a fairly fancy looking coffee machine. Tyler takes in everything else, there are two bedrooms to the left of the kitchen, doors open to show basic furniture and one to the right, next to the bathroom. The living room is small and connected to the open kitchen with a couple couches and a TV. There is a small dining table to the right of the kitchen where the single room is.

“How much is rent?” Tyler asks, this place is not as nice as his parents’ house, but it would mean he gets to live alone, away from his nosey mother and rambunctious siblings.

“$500 per room, per month. Everything is included—WiFi, heating, water, electricity and laundry.” Ashley watches as Tyler looks around, opening a few cupboards in the kitchen and peeking into the bathroom.

“Sick, uh, I can pay four months up front and move in as soon as possible.” Tyler nods to her and tries to ignore the bubbling excitement as this job turns into something better than he could have imagined.

“That’s—that’s great! I’ll draw up a contract and we can have you set up for tonight, or tomorrow if tonight is too soon. Given it’s already mid-May, let’s say $250 for this month?” Ashley replies and Tyler grins at her.

“That would be awesome and tonight’s perfect. Do I—can I choose my room?” Tyler bites his lip as he eyes the single room next to the bathroom.

“Absolutely, you’re the only renter as of now so dealer’s choice.” Ashley grins back and waves her hands between the three rooms.

“I’ll take the one next to the bathroom, then.” Tyler quickly peeks into the room, taking in the queen-sized bed and two nightstands flanking it; those being the only pieces of furniture in the room. “I’ll see if my parents will help me bring some stuff tonight.” Tyler can’t help but feel like his life is starting to look up—just a bit—with a new job and new place to live, for the first time in nearly three years he feels a bit hopeful.

“Wonderful, I’ll get you a copy of the key for the room and the house from back at the office. We should head back so we can sign the employment papers and then you’re free to go!” Ashley claps her hands together and they make their way back to the office.

||-//

Tyler ends up back at the vineyard house just after 7pm, his parents in tow with his things. They couldn’t bring any furniture tonight, but his dad promised to bring the rest in the morning; for now, Tyler has his clothes, shoes, notebooks, and instruments along with some smaller things like posters and photos and other random items.

“Ty, are you sure this is what you want? You know your father and I don’t mind having you home and you could still apply for classes and you wouldn’t have to pay rent if you’re—”

“I’m fine, mom. This is what I want to do right now, I think I have a good opportunity to get out on my own again and everyone here is super nice. Don’t worry, okay? I’ll figure it all out, I promise.” Kelly sighs and pulls her eldest in for a tight hug, only pulling away when Chris coughs to signal their departure.

“Okay, okay. I get it, you’re grown!” Kelly laughs and kisses Tyler’s cheek, “just don’t forget to call and visit when you can.” Tyler nod dutifully and gives her a kiss back.

“I won’t. Love you guys,” Tyler says as he accepts a hug from his father as well.

“Yes, well, us too. I’ll be back in the morning with your furniture.” Chris pats his shoulder and then his parents are driving away, and he’s left alone to his thoughts and an empty house.

||-//

Josh sighs and rubs his face as he walks into the office; his day was long and exhausting with all the meetings and driving around. Abbie is long gone but the light in Ashley’s office is still on, so he peeks his head in, smiling at his eldest sister.

“Hey,” he says as he walks into the room, Ashley looks up from her desk and smiles warmly.

“Josh, hey. How was your day?” Ashley sits back and stretches her neck.

“It was—long.” Josh sighs and slumps into one of the chairs at the front of her desk. “A lot of hand shaking and driving which is honestly, my least favourite part of all of this.” Josh’s shoulder slump and he allows himself to relax.

“I was actually thinking—once Abbie is done school and she can help out more in the office, I wouldn’t mind taking on some of that.” Ashley watches Josh’s expression and holds back a smile as his eyebrows shoot up.

“Seriously?” He asks incredulously.

“Yeah, I mean, I like that kind of stuff and I’m good at it and I know it’ll take a load off your shoulders so you can be here more often. I know Rich would appreciate it, his assistant being gone now and all.” Ashley stands and starts to gather her jacket and purse.

“Sounds fricking amazing to me; you know how much I’ve missed wine making.” Josh rubs his jaw and stands with her, smiling tiredly as she gets ready to depart.

“Well, I’m off for tonight. Don’t stay too late and remember I won’t be in until noon tomorrow. Our new vineyard guy is here but I texted Mark to meet him in the morning so that’s covered.” Ashley slings her purse over her shoulder, and they stand, staring at each other outside her office.

“New guy, huh? That was quick.” Josh raises a brow at her, and she shrugs.

“I liked his answers and he seemed pretty keen to start; by the way, he’s also renting one of the rooms in the house.” Another brow raise and Ashley just shoots him a smirk.

“Dang, sounds a little desperate, no?” Josh laughs when Ashley scoffs at him.

“Let’s call it eager. He’s really nice though, so don’t scare him away with your big, bad punk-ness.” Ashley teases as she heads for the door, shooting one last grin at Josh before she’s gone.

“I’m not scary,” Josh mumbles as she leaves and rubs the back of his neck; he grabs his keys off the desk in the main room and shuts off all the lights. Josh locks the door to the office and decides, a bit last minute, to double check the wine shop before leaving.

The walk down is quick, and the air is cooled with a slight breeze, Josh shoves his hands in his pockets and looks at the rows and rows of vines. He’s almost at the shop when he smells something skunky, which is weird because they don’t get skunks out here; Josh bites his lip and tries to follow the smell, it brings him to the vineyard house just a few yards away. The smell suddenly makes sense and Josh laughs as he realizes that it’s actually weed.

Josh walks up to the house and is just about to step inside when he hears someone clear their throat, he turns to go around the back and finds a skinny kid leaning against the back wall, inhaling a drag off what appears to be a joint. Josh coughs to catch his attention.

||-//

Tyler jumps at a sudden cough, nearly sucking the joint right down his throat, he keels over trying to catch his breath as he hears choked laughter and ‘ _oh my god, are you okay_?’ next to him. He finally catches his breath and stands, back to the wall, letting his head fall back and inhaling a large gulp of oxygen.

Tyler stares opened mouth at the random man, he has his hands tucked in his pockets and his brows furrowed as he looks, more like stares, at Tyler. Tyler is suddenly very aware of the joint between his fingers, he ashes it and looks guiltily into the random man’s eyes.

“Umm, it’s for my glaucoma?” Tyler tries and the guy bursts out laughing. “It’s, uh, preventative?” Tyler blushes under the laughter but continues smoking.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m, uh, Josh.” Josh says and walks up to stand beside Tyler; Tyler goes a bit rigid, slightly nervous now that he knows he’s standing next to his new boss.

“Oh, shit! Josh like—the guy who runs this place?” Tyler groans when the guy nods and grins at him; Tyler continues, “this is not how I planned meeting my boss.” Tyler’s cheeks flush red with embarrassment and Josh just laughs again.

“No worries man; I get it, I was young once too.” Josh replies, nodding toward the joint and Tyler chews his lip and throws a questioning glance at Josh.

“I’m 25 man, probably not that much younger than you.” Tyler breaks the silence and takes another drag and raises an eyebrow at Josh.

“Damn, really?” Josh sounds surprised but Tyler isn’t, he knows he looks like a kid with his lanky figure and baby-face.

“Yeah,” Tyler ashes his joint again and pulls his bottom lip between his teeth. “How old are you?” Tyler asks.

“25 as well, but I’ll be 26 next month.” Tyler snorts then flushes and tries to cover it with a cough.

“We’re literally the same age,” he smirks, and this time Josh is the one whose face flushes. “But I get it, I get told I look like a twi—uh, teenager all the time.” Tyler mentally curses himself for that slip-up because really, there’s nothing like telling your new boss people think you’re a _twink_. Josh, thankfully, seems to ignore it even though his face is red like he definitely heard him.

A slightly awkward pause settles over them and Tyler isn’t sure what to say since it appears Josh won’t be breaking the silence. Tyler leans down to put out the joint and sticks the roach in his hoodie pocket; he pulls another out.

“Do you want?” Tyler digs around his jean pocket for his lighter and finally produces the rainbow coloured Bic. Josh accepts the unlit joint and lighter from Tyler and makes quick work of lighting and inhaling the small, white stick.

“Thanks,” Josh breathes on the exhale, Tyler nods and looks back up to the sky. It’s clear and Tyler can see more stars than he has in a long time, it’s so dark up here and without the light pollution the galaxy is especially visible and breathtaking.

They share the joint between them, with Tyler encouraging Josh to take a few more puffs than him every time, he has to catch up after all. Tyler’s eyes fall down to look at Josh’s face as he inhales, his lips pursing around the joint and his eyes closing briefly as he holds in the smoke. Tyler bites his lip as his eyes roam further down to Josh’s chest, defined and muscular in his tight button-up and his legs wrapped deliciously in tight, black jeans. His face is soft with barely-there stubble and plump lips, tinged pink and a nose ring. Josh’s hair is shaved at the sides and dyed blue in the middle; curly and messy and kind of exactly Tyler’s type. Tyler makes his way back down to his face and finds Josh watching him with dark eyes, Tyler blushes but tries to play it cool.

“So, a winery owner at 25? That’s pretty amazing.” Tyler shakes his head when Josh tries to hand the joint to him, “you take it.” He says and Josh happily obliges.

“Yeah, I don’t know. My dad sat me down on my 23rd birthday and gave me the whole ‘ _this will all be yours one day, son_ ’ and I—I guess I had hoped that my drumming career would have taken off by then but—well, it just wasn’t, so. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t want it and maybe it would be better in Ashley’s hands but then—” Josh takes a huge hit off the joint and exhales deeply.

“Then four months later he was diagnosed with cancer and it was—it wasn’t a curable kind and they didn’t think he would last long so—I took over then and there and put my drumming dream on hold.” Josh pauses and Tyler wants to reach out and pat his back or something, god, he is just too awkward for this.

“Wow, I’m sorry. That must have been really hard on you.” Tyler shrugs and takes the last hit off the joint before stubbing it and adding the roach with the other.

“It’s—yeah, he died three months after diagnosis, so I’ve been running this place full-time for almost two and a half years. It’s been hard, don’t get me wrong like, it was a lot all at once and I almost gave up a hundred times but this place—it’s been in our family for six decades and I just couldn’t let it go. My grandpa started it when he was my age and my dad was only five years old. He grew up here and so did I, so I owe it to him, to the family. And hey, maybe I can still be a drummer in a world-famous band one day. Sky’s the limit and all that, right?” Josh sighs and leans next to Tyler on the wall.

“I’ll bet you’re a kick-ass drummer and you could definitely have a world-famous band, if you wanted.” Tyler smiles, a real one that reaches his eyes and Josh gives one back. Tyler’s not sure why he feels so comfortable around Josh, but it feels like he’s known him for years—which is slightly disconcerting given they’ve only just met. Tyler tries not to think too hard about it, the guys super fricking hot and that’s probably why Tyler’s at ease.

“Thanks. Enough of my terribly depressing life though, what about you? Always dreamt of being a vineyard worker?” Josh laughs at Tyler’s eyeroll.

“I don’t know—I’m honestly not very interesting. I was working at a restaurant, but I just got tired of dealing with people and faking being this happy-go-lucky guy, it’s exhausting putting on that front every day and when I saw the ad for this place, I mean, honestly? It pays better than anything else and I don’t have to actively deal with customers. Plus, I can work on my tan.” Tyler shoves his hands in his jean pockets and shrugs, he wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t interesting, but Josh looks like he’s hanging onto every word.

“Restaurant work is stressful, hopefully we can live up to your introverted expectations.” Josh grins at his half-joke and then his face falls serious, “what about the before that, though? I’m guessing you weren’t born into the restaurant industry.” Josh pulls his bottom lip and rolls it between his teeth.

“Yeah, no,” Tyler pauses and bites at his thumbnail. “I was in a band when I was twenty-one until twenty-three but it kind of, like, fell apart. We released an album and toured a bit and everything, but the other guys just got too busy with life and—you know, a one-man band doesn’t exactly scream success, so I just put it away and then I had to move back in with my parents. Super awesome to be twenty-three and living at home again after five years on your own. I guess that also contributed to my quitting the restaurant, I kind of fell into this depressive hole that I had thought I was away from and—wow, that is way too deep for a first-time conversation with my new boss. I am so sorry.” Tyler blushes and shrinks down into his hoodie.

But Josh is just smiling fondly at him and he shrugs. “Hey, you listened to my sob story, so I think it’s only fair—not that, shit, not that yours is a sob story or anything but—uh, yeah. Pretty cool that you had a band at one point, and even released an album. Maybe you could show me some songs, one day.” Josh rubs the back of his neck and swallows hard around his awkwardness, Tyler pretends not to notice but he can’t stop the small smile from breaking across his lips.

“Yeah, maybe.” Tyler replies and his heart is hammering now, he’s not sure he wants Josh to hear his music because, well, it’s not exactly boss-friendly and man, if he sounded depressing now just wait until Josh listened to _A Car, A Torch, A Death_ or _Fall Away_.

Another silence falls between them but it’s much more comfortable this time and Tyler feels himself appreciative of their apparent chemistry which lets him feel relaxed around a basic stranger after a thirty-minute heart-to-heart.

“I—am pretty stoned,” Tyler laughs and Josh smirks; Tyler’s realizing he does that a lot and it’s kind of turning him on, just a teeny, tiny bit. “I think I am gonna head to bed now—I’ll see you around?” Tyler hates how hopeful he sounds but Josh just nods and looks at him through hooded lids.

“Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely. I should probably head home—but I don’t think I can drive.” Josh laughs but it sounds forced and then he looks at Tyler, again with those hooded lids and Tyler feels a hot sweat breaking out under his hoodie. “I’ll just—um, I’ll take one of the other rooms, if that’s not weird? Better safe than driving.” Tyler finds himself nodding because it does make sense.

“Not weird at all,” Tyler replies and he should really walk away now before he does something stupid like invite Josh to his room, ‘ _don’t fuck your boss, Tyler_ ’ he scolds himself. “Goodnight.” Tyler resists the urge to reach out and touch Josh or hug him or something equally as foolish and walks past him to the front door of the vineyard house.

“Yeah, night. I’ll be in in a bit and I’ll lock up.” Josh squeezes his fists in his pockets to keep from grabbing Tyler as he walks past.


	2. The Guy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off: I am sorry this took a month. Work has picked up now that it's getting noice out so I will hopefully be better at updating going forward.
> 
> Second off: thank you for your comments and kudos! I am very excited about this story.
> 
> Third off: un-beta'd so let me know if you see anything glaringly terrible.

Tyler’s dad brings the rest of his stuff the next morning, entirely too early for Tyler but he’s grateful for the help, nevertheless. It’s nearing half past nine by the time he has his desk, computer and recording equipment set up and he stands back to admire his work. His keyboard is leaning against the side of the desk, opposite the tower and his notebooks are piled high on either side of his monitor.

“That’ll do, donkey.” Tyler mumbles to himself, smiling at his set up and the fact that he can record in peace without siblings and parents running and screaming outside his door. Tyler checks his phone while he finishes the second half of the bagel breakfast sandwich that his dad brought over. He has just enough time to change into work clothes and brush his teeth before he needs to meet Mark outside the wine shop at ten.

He’s pretty nervous for his first official day but it’s a warm morning with no clouds to be seen, so how bad could it be?

||-//

The first few weeks go by in a blur, Tyler has so much new information thrown at him daily and that, coupled with hot days in the sun, mean he’s passed out before 9pm on a regular basis. Tyler’s learned that they have six other vineyard’s outside of the main one, he’s only worked on the main and one just down the road but he suspects he’ll be carted off to the others soon enough. Mark is the nicest guy ever, he’s super patient and understanding and knows an incredible amount about the vines and viticulture (Tyler has a list in his work notebook for new words, this being the top one). He rarely sees Rich, except when he’s outside cleaning tanks and barrels, and he’s started to meet some of the foreign workers who are some of the friendliest people he’s ever met.

Tyler hasn’t seen Josh a lot but he’s always busy either in the office or with Rich, so Tyler’s not that offended though he is embarrassed that they had an entire conversation and he never actually introduced himself. He ran into Josh after lunch on his second day, Josh said his name and because Tyler is who he is, he stared dumbly and asked how Josh knew his name.

All things considered, not a terrible two weeks into his new job. Everyone seems to like him, and he hasn’t completely ruined the vineyard or jumped Josh so, he’s feeling pretty ace about everything.

The one thing that has been the hardest is getting groceries, so far his mom has been bringing by some things but he really needs to get a car so he can officially stop relying on his parents. Kim had scolded him on his first day when she found out he didn’t have a lunch and packed and brought him one for that entire week.

And also today, because he pathetically texted her last night letting her know he ran out of Mr. Noodles and she called him yelling about how awful his diet is and how he needs real food to help his big boy bones grow.

Which is how he ends up in the wine shop eating a delicious stir-fry with Kim and Debby.

“Seriously, Ty. I will come over and teach you how to cook if it’s that hard for you.” Kim grins around her forkful as Tyler rolls his eyes at her and keeps shoveling more food into his mouth. “I hear Josh is a good cook,” she cocks her head and he glares at her from across the tasting bar.

“God, he looks like he’d be good at everything. If you know…” Debby comments as she munches on her baby carrots and Tyler chokes on the food in his mouth, Kim laughs loudly and he glares even harder at her.

Tyler had, maybe, possibly, confessed he thought Josh was wet-dream worthy on accident and he is so regretting it now; she brings Josh up every chance she can get but is always sly enough that no one around has caught on to why or the fact that Tyler’s always a pretty shade of pink during these comments.

“He’s our boss—that is like, such a tired cliché.” Tyler goes for non-committal, but it comes out kind of strained and Debby rolls her eyes playfully.

“Yeah, but when you’ve got a body like his, who cares? I’m just glad he isn’t balding with a beer belly trying to get me to go to his kids’ birthday parties at the local pool.” Debby replies, crunching especially hard on a baby carrot and Tyler flinches, he decides he does not ever want to be on her bad side.

“That’s—super gross.” Tyler says around a laugh, Debby and Kim giggling with him. “Not at the restaurant but I had a boss corner me, literally, like in a corner and ask me if I liked to eat hot dogs whole. He had so many bad-touch vibes that I practically ran from the job.” Tyler says as he walks around to clean Kim’s Tupperware in the sink.

Debby’s laugh is surprised and loud and Kim makes a disgusted noise, “god, I remember that. Michael nearly hunted him down when you told us. I sincerely hope he got fired or reported or locked in someone’s trunk somewhere.” Kim seals her leftover lunch and tosses it back in the fridge.

“So, Kim, you’ve worked here for a while, right?” Debby asks as she seals her carrots and stows them in her lunch bag.

“Yeah, a few years. Why?” Kim asks.

“Does Josh date his employees?” Tyler ignores how Debby looks at _him_ before Kim after she asks.

“I—well, yes and no. He dated one girl around when he first took over but it didn’t really end well and then he didn’t date any employees after that but—that’s not to say he wouldn’t now. Why? He catch your fancy?” Kim replies with a raised brow and Debby blushes and shakes her head.

“I mean, he’s super hot but no. I was just curious, I guess.” Debby replies as she picks at a nail and shrugs. “He’s definitely bi though, right?” Tyler feels his entire body flush and oh god, his life would be so easy if Kim answers that question in the negative.

“Oh yeah, he easily goes both ways.” Kim smirks as she catches Tyler’s gaze and, well, _fuck_.

“Why do you keep looking at me?” Tyler asks as he narrows his eyes at the two, it feels like they’ve had a conversation about him that he wasn’t privy to.

“No reason.” Kim smiles innocently at him and Debby snorts next to her.

“Look, Josh is—”

“Josh is what?” Tyler’s stomach drops as he turns to the door and finds Josh peaking through and smiling widely at the three of them.

“Uh, Josh is—you’re here! Perfect, that's great. Um, I should probably go find Mark. Thanks for lunch, Kim.” Tyler grabs his baseball cap and his phone and makes for the door.

“Actually, Tyler, if you have a second then I could use your help.” Josh opens the door wider as Tyler approaches and god, of course Josh is shirtless because why not?

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Tyler pulls his hat on and side steps outside, the heat hits him hard and he kind of wants to take his shirt off too. Even the playing field and stuff because honestly, Josh has freckles everywhere and Tyler is going to get fired for licking his boss in about five seconds.

“We need to bring some cases of wine to the shop and I figured this would be a good opportunity to show you how to work the forklift.” Josh says and he walks toward the bright orange forklift with a pallet attached to the forks.

Tyler follows and thinks of his old, perverted boss to keep his not-so appropriate thoughts about Josh’s shoulders at bay. It works until they get to the forklift and Josh turns to smile wide at him, eyes crinkling and seriously, how is his smile sexy? Tyler is so fucking screwed, ‘ _hopefully by Josh_ ’, Tyler thinks to himself and then shakes the thought with a groan.

“So, we keep majority of our stock in the lower level of the office and when we need to bring multiple cases over, the forklift is the easiest way. Hop on up and I’ll show you the controls.” Josh says and he stands back and waits, Tyler refuses to meet his eyes as he pulls himself up and into the seat. Tyler takes in his surroundings, there’s a steering wheel which he is more than familiar with and a bunch of levers on either side.

“Okay, so,” Josh climbs up so he’s basically leaning over Tyler and he smells like sweat and Old Spice, _fuckfuckfuck_. “On the left is your shift lever and parking brake.” Josh points to each and then leans right across Tyler, his right arm gripping the roof and balancing himself as he leans. Tyler kind of wants the earth to open up and drag him down to the core. “On the left you have your tilt lever and lift lever which are kind of self-explanatory. The pedals are the same as a car, right is accelerate and left is brake.” Tyler is literally inches away from being able to lean out and lick up Josh’s arm and this is so, _so_ bad.

“Okay,” Tyler replies (in a decidedly not squeaky voice) and coughs to clear the lump in his throat.

“Just start it up and I’ll get you to drive over to the storage.” Josh points to the keys already in the ignition and Tyler hopes to god he doesn’t crash this thing. Thankfully, it starts up with no issues and Tyler checks the parking brake and then goes to hit the gas. “Just before we take off, always make sure the forks are slightly lifted just in case. Just pull the lift lever until it’s a couple feet off the ground.” Tyler does as he’s told and the forks comes up about two feet before he releases.

“Like that?” Tyler asks, he pointedly keeps his eyes forward and Josh laughs.

“Yeah, you’re good.” Josh reaches his other hand out to grab the front bar as they start moving.

Tyler is going to have the coldest shower possible after work and find the grossest photos on the internet so he can keep his mind busy when his super attractive boss comes around shirtless and sweaty and ruins Tyler’s ability to control himself.

||-//

Tyler has Mondays and Tuesdays off; he’s laid out on his bed one Monday afternoon when his phone buzzes with a text from Ashley.

 **From Ashley** : Hey, Tyler! A few of us are going out for drinks after work this Friday and hoping you can make it.

Tyler wonders if Josh will be there but then he kind of hopes not because the last thing he needs is to be around the boss he wants to fuck after hours and when alcohol is close by. Tyler hovers over the keyboard before finally writing up a nonchalant reply.

 **To Ashley** : Hi Ashley, sounds great. Could I bother you for a ride there? Still no luck on the car hunt :(

Tyler bites his lip as he waits for her reply.

 **From Ashley** : Of course! Josh should be around, so I’ll let him know to grab you.

Tyler’s head drops back onto his pillow and he groans because really, couldn’t life just give him one break? Just a singular break, it’s all he’s asking for and then he’ll never ask for anything ever again.

 **To Ashley** : Cool, thanks!

He tries not to throw his phone across the room, settling for tossing it next to him and sighing into his hands. So, he has a week to get his shit together and have a plan for not admitting to or acting on any of his wildly inappropriate thoughts about his boss.

A whole week. He’s so fucked.

||-//

“What’s up, Ash?” Josh answers his phone, he stretches out on his couch and mutes the TV.

“Wow, not even a hello?” Ashley asks with fake offense and a gasp.

Josh rolls his eyes as he watches Jake from StateFarm silently talking to a couple that is entirely too excited about insurance. “You never actually call me unless you want something.” Josh laughs when she snorts.

“Okay, well, not really me wanting anything but Tyler needs a ride to the bar on Friday and I may or may not have volunteered your services to him.” Ashley replies far too innocently and Josh sighs.

“Alright, so I'm picking up the new guy. How did this warrant an actual phone call?” Josh swallows thickly because he’s pretty sure why but he’s really hoping Ashley has killed someone or has another equally as bad confession to follow.

“Josh,” she tuts, and he can hear her shuffling the phone around. “He’s cute and single, far as I know.” Josh can hear the shit-eating grin on her face and he’s tempted to just hang up.

“That’s so not—I don’t know why that matters. He’s my employee, Ashley.” Josh picks at a loose thread in his sweats and then lets his head roll back against the couch.

“Yes, he is. Your very single and very cute employee that you have gone out of your way to ask me about for the last two weeks. I’m not stupid, Josh.” Her voice is softer now and god, he kind of hates her except not really at all.

“I was just curious, Ash. I’m really not looking for a relationship right now, you know how busy I am with the winery and the season is just starting.” Josh thinks about how much busier they’re gonna be come June, how many out of town trips he has scheduled and he’s just not ready to invest in anyone right now. Even if that anyone is a tanned brunet with lips that make him want to drop to his knees every time he—

“Okay, okay. I get it, J. He’s different though and I know you can see that.” Different. Different than before, different than her. Josh knows it’s what Ashley wants to say but she doesn’t.

“Yeah, I—yeah.” Josh finally rips the thread completely out and tosses it to the floor. “I’ll drive him to the party, but just, don’t Scooby-Doo this, okay? I am a grown ass man and I will make my move on my own time, if there is even a move to make.” Ashley laughs and it makes him smile.

“Deal,” she replies, and the line goes silent for a beat. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I have a morning meeting but I’ll be in around noon.” Josh replies.

“Okay, love you bro.” Josh laughs.

“Yeah, yeah, love you too.” He stares at his phone after she’s hung up and then rubs his eyes.

Josh desperately tries not to think of being alone with Tyler in a car, even if only for fifteen minutes, and about what he might wear and if he’ll show off his tattoos or—fuck, Josh grunts as he stands and turns the TV off. He needs to get out of his head and think about literally anything except Tyler.

Josh changes into shorts and a tank and grabs his gym bag to work out his sexual frustration on dumbbells and treadmills.

||-//

Tyler was right, a week was not enough time to get his shit together. He definitely jerked-off one or three times too many to the thought of Josh and he has a serious guilt complex about it. Like he practically ran from Josh yesterday when he saw him walking down toward the wine shop.

Tyler’s standing in the bathroom pushing and pulling at his hair and trying to find a good balance between caring too much and not caring at all about how he looks. He’s got a blue short-sleeve button up and black skinny jeans on, casual but also respectable. He’s left the top few buttons undone to lean even further into casual and black vans.

He wets his hands and tampers down the fluff, but his hair just bounces back and he gives up; he does a quick check to make sure there aren’t stains anywhere before exiting the bathroom to go wait outside for his ride. For Josh.

||-//

Josh is white knuckling his steering wheel and seriously regretting not shaving his stubble as he drives toward the winery. And Tyler.

Tyler his newest employee.

Josh nearly runs a red and slams his brakes to stop just inside the crosswalk. “Shit!” Josh breathes heavily and tries to calm himself down, it’s just a ride to an office party at a local bar, nothing more. Just sucks in a deep breath though his nose and exhales out his mouth.

If only Ashley had told him that Tyler was straight as an arrow, all aboard the boob-train to Heteroville and then he could just log this away as an innocent attraction to a straight dude that has no possibility of ever being anything except for a friendship.

But no. No, Tyler had to not only be into dudes but exclusively into dudes as in riding right past Heteroville and stopping in definitely fucks, or is fucked, by guys only-ville. Josh cannot deal with that information because it fosters hope, hope that maybe he’ll be the one to stick his dick into Tyler, or maybe Tyler into him, he’s a versatile guy.

“Get it together, Josh. Holy _fuck_.” Josh mutters to himself, shifting in his seat as his already tight pants become just a bit tighter and he really cannot show up to pick up Tyler with a half chub—he may as well show up in a windowless white van with the promise of free candy with that kind of creepiness.

Or maybe Tyler would appreciate—no. “No,” he grits out and shakes his head as if the thoughts will fall out of his head like salt in a saltshaker. Josh breathes deep, one large inhale and a slow exhale as he thinks of his parents having sex, bones broken and protruding through skin, over flowed garbage bins that smell like rotting food—everything that effectively kills his creeper half boner and sags into his seat.

Josh jumps as his phone vibrates in his pocket and he swerves slightly into the right shoulder before righting his car; he reaches in his pocket and sees a new text from Ashley and then tosses his phone into the cupholder beside himself. He definitely doesn’t want to read what she has to say.

Thankfully, he arrives at the winery with a completely flaccid penis and only slightly sore hands from his death grip on the steering wheel. Unfortunately, Tyler is wearing tight pants and a button up so Josh says a quick prayer and focuses on the images he last conjured to ensure he isn’t slapped with a sexual harassment claim.

“Hey man! Thanks for picking me up, I swear I’m looking but there is shit all for cars right now.” Tyler says as he hops into the passenger seat, he flashes Josh a wide smile and Josh desperately hopes his reads friendly boss and not trying not to pop my second boner of the evening.

“No sweat, dude.” Josh replies, which comes out casual and not strained and his prayer must have worked. “Any time, if I’m around y’know, I can give you a ride. Wherever.” Josh flaps his hand around and Tyler is kind of staring at him and Josh feels super awkward, so he adds, “if you want.” Because that definitely makes everything less awkward.

Tyler’s mouth pulls up a bit and he clips his seatbelt in, “yeah? That’s really nice, I might have to take you up on that.” Josh nods stiffly and then turns back to the front and starts to drive toward the bar.

They don’t speak for the remainder of the trip and Josh isn’t sure if it’s a bad awkward silence or a weirdly comfortable one but he’s too focused on not crashing and ensuring his thoughts remain Rated G to provide any type of conversation.

||-//

Tyler has to stop himself from sighing in absolute relief when they get to the bar because of course Josh would be wearing literally the tightest pants on the planet in addition to a cut-off top that showcases his tattooed and muscular biceps of which Tyler has definitely fantasized about. He spent half the drive with his legs crossed and his mind repeatedly cycling through images of road kill because his dick is traitorous and definitely likes Josh more than is appropriate.

They walk into the bar together and Tyler tries to keep his distance without raising suspicion from Josh. The walk in is silence as well and Tyler is breathing the tension in with every inhale; it’s so thick that he could cut it up and eat it. But then they’re inside and Ashley, Kim, Michael, Debby, Mark and Ben are there and Tyler smiles easy as the whole table excitedly greets them both.

He pointedly ignores Kim’s eyebrow raise and greets everyone with an enthusiastic “Yo!” They’re sitting in a u-shaped booth and there’s, thankfully, space on each side so he knows he won’t have to suffer through being squished in next to Josh except—

“Hey guys, let’s scoot this way so Tyler and Josh can get in.” Ashley motions for everyone to move one spot over, she moves to the end of one side and everyone follows which leaves two spots directly beside each other.

Tyler swallows thickly and slides in next to Debby and Josh follows; they end up nearly thigh to thigh and Tyler can smell Josh’s cologne and fuck, he smells so good.

“Drinks?” Tyler nearly squeaks out and looks around for the server; he can see Josh nodding beside him and chooses to ignore how uncomfortable he looks.

“How was the drive?” Debby asks, she’s sipping on something bright pink and her eyes are already a little glossy.

“It was a drive, literally like fifteen minutes and I didn’t even kill anyone so, win.” Josh answers and twists his body toward the outside of the booth. “Who’s our waitress?”

“Becca, she’ll probably be by soon. Anyway, we were just discussing how we should have a house party to welcome the newbies.” Ashley diverts Josh’s attention and Tyler watches as they seemingly converse with each other using only slight glares and eyebrow raises.

“We can do it at Josh’s apartment!” Kim throws out and majority mumble in agreement.

“My apartment? But you’re the one with the house.” Josh shoots back and Kim just shrugs.

“Your apartment has a better view and it’s pretty huge, so it’ll definitely fit everyone.” Kim replies, she catches Tyler’s eye as she takes a sip from her drink and Tyler really doesn’t like the look she’s giving him.

“Yeah, sure.” Josh rolls his eyes and shifts in his seat; Tyler is momentarily caught off guard when their legs brush and he nearly elbows Josh in the ribs when he jumps in surprise.

“Uh, I need to use the bathroom.” Tyler coughs and turns to Josh so he can be let out; Josh raises a brow but gets up nonetheless to let him out. “Thanks.” Tyler mumbles and makes a beeline for the bathrooms in the back.

He holds his breath until he’s safely locked in a stall and then groans into his hands. He’s so fucked.

||-//

Josh watches Tyler walk away for half a second too long before turning back to the rest of the table; everyone appears to be consumed in their own little conversations, so he momentarily thinks he’s gotten away with it but then he meets Ashley all-knowing gaze and his chest tightens.

“Maybe we should do, like, a welcome-slash-birthday party for Josh.” Ashley says as she catches the attention of the rest of the table. “Two birds, one stone and all that.” She finishes; the table nods and god, Josh has to remind himself that first degree murder is 25 to life.

“Uh, I don’t know Ash. I was kind of planning on doing literally nothing for my birthday so…” Josh folds his arms across his chest and goes for a nonchalant shrug that ends up being more awkward shoulder twitch than anything.

The table seems torn in half between agreeing with Ashley and not wanting to put Josh out which Josh will take as a win on his part.

“Oh, come on Josh. Don’t make it weird; I would have dragged you out anyway so either I drag you to a bunch of awful clubs with handsy drunk people or we have a nice, semi-quiet and definitely respectable party at your place.” Ashley replies, her own arms crossed across her chest and her grin challenging and Josh knows he’s trapped. Fuck.

He’s about to retort when Tyler appears, face a bit flushed and is his hair wet? Josh ignores the way it sticks to his neck and jumps up to let him back in the booth.

“Tyler! We just decided that we’re going to do a welcome-slash-birthday party for Josh instead! I’m thinking, if boss-man agrees, that we can do it on the Wednesday and then open late Thursday, so our tasters have a bit of a morning to recover.” Ashley winks at Debby and Kim and the tables bursts into agreement.

“I am definitely down for some recovery time,” Debby comments.

“Hell yeah, let’s do it!” Kim adds in excitedly and of course she’s on board; Josh is pretty sure Kim is working with Ashley to make this impossible for him.

“You guys are the absolute worst,” Josh groans as he rubs his face and for the second time tonight, wonders where the hell Becca is and why doesn’t he have a drink?

Ashley is about to comment when the angel herself appears, Becca, with her notepad and apron and access to all the alcohol.

“Hey guys! Sorry about the wait, it’s been kind of crazy tonight. Same, Josh? And what can I get for you?” Becca directs the last part to Tyler.

“Yeah, same for me.” Josh nods.

“I’ll just do a short rum and coke.” Tyler replies.

||-//

Tyler’s at the bar waiting on his third rum and coke when he’s approached by a blond with incredibly green eyes; he’s sort of sagged against the bar entrapped by the way the bartender is mixing his drink when the guy pulls him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, can I get that for you?” His voice is low and smooth, and Tyler can’t help but feel a bit of a flutter in the pit of his stomach and a flush that rises high on his cheeks.

“Uh, I—sure.” Tyler’s head is a little fuzzy but not enough that he can’t tell the guy is attractive and clearly interested and if the pull in the pit of his stomach is anything to go by, then Tyler knows he’s interested as well.

The slightly taller man slides a twenty across the bar and orders a bottle of Heineken for himself before turning towards Tyler and flashing a smile that’s all dimples and lure.

“I’m James,” he reaches a hand out that Tyler takes and god, the guy is so warm and soft and Tyler has a brief image of those hands running down his sides and back and down to his—

“Tyler!” He replies a bit too loudly and prays the guy doesn’t realize how sweaty his palms are. Thankfully he just smiles wider and crowds in closer, their shoulders touching as he reaches out to grab his bottle of beer and nods towards Tyler’s drink. Tyler takes a bigger sip than necessary before making eye contact again.

“I think you are really hot.” James says as he licks his lips and Tyler follows the motion, subconsciously copying it and wetting his own mouth; James take a pull of his beer and then leans over until his breath is ghosting over Tyler’s ear and whispers low, “I don’t mean to be forward but I’d really like to take you home.”

Tyler can feel the heat moving down his neck and spreading out across his chest, it’s definitely not the first time he’s been asked out nor the most forward attempt to get him into bed but the two and a half rum and cokes and three month dry-spell are making the come on so much hotter than it should be. Tyler’s breath pants out when James pulls back enough so their noses brush and Tyler feels the urge to lick out at his mouth.

So he does. James smirks and presses closer so they’re actually kissing and Tyler melts into it as his body relaxes and arousal burns in his lower abdomen. He definitely wants to go home with Josh—James. Not Josh—definitely James.

James.

James who abandons his beer on the bar and takes ahold of Tyler’s hand as they make their quick departure. Tyler can feel the lusted out expression on his face and knows his pupils are blown and eyes glassy; if arousal had a smell he’s sure everyone would be able to tell he’s sporting a half chub that quickly becomes a three quarter when he catches Josh’s eye from their booth. Tyler thinks he sees anger or jealousy but that could just be the drinks, the look definitely gets to him and he’s definitely embarrassed when a short moan escapes his mouth.

The moan seems to spur James on and soon the muggy air hits him in the face; Tyler stumbles a bit at the threshold between door and sidewalk, but James grip is strong and keeps him upright. Just when he’s got his footing back, he feels something—some _one_ grab his wrist and pull him back from his soon-to-be one night stand.

“Tyler!” Josh says and James stops but doesn’t let Tyler go, instead his grip tightens, and he fixes a leveled stare at Josh.

“Josh! Hey!” Tyler grins at his boss and temporarily forgets about his three-quarter boner currently pushing against his jeans and probably incredibly obvious to anyone with eyes.

“Hey man, are you good? I was about to take off and since I drove you…” Josh replies though he’s not looking at Tyler, instead his gaze is still fixed on James and where the other man is holding Tyler.

“He’s fine, we were just heading out. Are you guys together?” James’ voice sounds accusing to Tyler and it makes him snort out a laugh.

“No, no. Josh is—he’s my boss!” Tyler says and finds himself torn between the two men; which is weird because he should obviously be on the side of the guy who’s, hopefully, gonna rock his world tonight which is Josh—James! Definitely James.

“Oh, alright. Well…we are gonna head out then.” James tugs Tyler’s arm and for a second Tyler hesitates, Josh has a weird look in his eyes that seems pleading and Tyler’s not sure how to make heads or tails of it.

“Unless…” Tyler mumbles quietly, trying to find something in Josh’s face that tells him to stay; Josh’s eyes flick over to Tyler and they’re resigned, no fight in them and Tyler suddenly feels completely sober.

“Um, yeah, for sure. Uh, drive safe, I guess.” Josh rubs his chin and lets Tyler's wrist go, he just nods and half turns back to the bar. Tyler swallows thickly and lets himself be led away by James; Tyler really tries to ignore the part of himself that wishes Josh had told him not to go.

Tyler pauses at the passenger side of James’ Lancer and he chances a glance back to the front entrance where Josh is standing, watching him with a frown. Tyler chews his lip and rolls his head back.

“Um, actually, I’m sorry James but I should—I can’t—” Tyler flails a bit, arms waving right and left, and he sighs loudly. “I can’t do this.”

“Oh, uh,” James sounds incredibly disappointed and Tyler isn’t sure if he’s offended or complimented by that. “Yeah, that’s—that’s no problem, Tyler. It was nice to meet you, anyway.” James half smiles at him across the top of the car and Tyler decides to take his disappointment as a compliment.

“Thanks,” Tyler replies awkwardly and then makes his move back to the bar toward an increasingly confused Josh who is still standing near the door. Tyler keeps his eyes pointedly on the ground until he’s standing next to Josh. “I am drunk,” Tyler says as his excuse for coming back and Josh smiles softly.

“I can still drive you home, if you want.” Josh shrugs, accepting the excuse and they walk back inside, shoulders brushing.

||-//

Josh definitely doesn’t think about Tyler pressed up against that guy, he definitely doesn’t think about how his first instinct was to go over and shove the guy away, and he definitely doesn’t think about what it means that Tyler didn’t go home with the guy.

No. Furthest thoughts from his mind, honestly.

Except not, because now he’s lying in bed and all he can think about is how Tyler looked with his lips pressed against that guy and how Josh had wanted to be the one kissing Tyler. He’s thinking about how flushed Tyler looked, how his lips were wet and plump, how his eyes were nearly black when he was being led out of the bar. He’s thinking about how he didn’t even think before jumping up and following them out, how he didn’t even know what he was gonna say until he grabbed Tyler’s wrist.

Josh groans and rubs his face with both hands, he’s sweating even with only his boxer briefs on and the A/C blasting; he’s desperately trying to ignore the fact that the images of Tyler kissing that guy, while it made him weirdly jealous, have also made him uncomfortably hard.

Josh palms himself and sighs at the temporary relief. He should really just close his eyes and ignore his totally inappropriate boner and go to sleep; dream of vines and bottles and meetings with buyers and suppliers. He should.

Instead, he pushes his briefs down and kicks them off, his legs relaxed and slightly spread as he reaches down to grab his dick. He squeezes the base and lets out a soft moan, the touch electric with the image of a flushed and panting Tyler so fresh in his mind. Josh imagines that he’d look like that under him, or over him, wonders if he’d pant out Josh’s name when he came, if he’d bite his lip and draw his eyebrows down.

“ _F_ - _fuck_ ,” Josh gasps as he strokes himself, thumb flicking over his slit and spreading pre-come around the head of his dick. He thinks about how Tyler would look with those lips, red and bruised, wrapped around his dick as he looked up at Josh through his long lashes. Brown eyes with pupils blown and hollowed cheeks as he sucked Josh down. Josh’s hips buck up at the image as another moan slips past his parted lips.

Josh pauses to reach into his nightstand and squirt a bit of lube in his hand; he’s quickly back to his stroking, increasing the pressure as he basically fucks into his fist. Images of Tyler splayed on his bed, legs open and eyes needy as Josh crawls over him; imagines how good Tyler would smell at the junction of his neck and shoulder and how good he’d look with purple-blue bruises that Josh would suck into his skin.

Josh comes hard, spurting white ropes of come over his hand and stomach to the thought of ruining Tyler, of making him a panting, whimpering mess below as Josh brings him to orgasm.

Josh slumps back into his bed, eyelids heavy and hand limply laying in his own come on his stomach, but he can’t bring himself to move and clean it up.

“Fuck,” Josh grunts as the realization hits that he just masturbated to thoughts of his employee. He’s so fucked. Beyond fucked and not in the good way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ty frens <3

**Author's Note:**

> I have bits and pieces of this started but not sure my update schedule at this point, sorry! I will do my best. ;)
> 
> Stay safe, frens. <3


End file.
